Makazole Mapimpi of the Cell C Sharks during the Super Rugby match between Cell C Sharks and Rebels at Jonsson Kings Park on March 23, 2019 in Durban, South Africa. (Photo by Steve Haag/Gallo Images)
Sharks coach Robert du Preez admitted that this weekend’s victory over the Rebels in Durban was crucial in ensuring their Super Rugby campaign did not head south, with the KwaZulu-Natalians freezing out their opposition with long periods of ball-retention, especially in the second half.
After starting the season with two bonus-point wins, the Sharks then lost their next two matches and came off their bye week with their campaign at the crossroads. Unlike the Bulls, who had come off their bye week on a high,
the Sharks responded superbly against a decent Rebels side, winning 28-14.
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“I’m very happy with the win because we needed to get our campaign back on track. It was tough coming back after the loss to the Bulls and the bye, but the guys dug deep after a lot of introspection in the week off. Who would have thought the Chiefs would bring the Bulls back down to earth so drastically, they were on quite a high, but it shows that anything can happen and you’ve got to be on top of your game week-in and week-out.
“The strength of this team is when they keep the ball through multiple phases, then they are really dangerous. Especially in the second half, we were so much better with that, after we were a bit tentative in the first half. A couple
of times we kicked the ball away so that’s definitely something we have to work on. Keeping the ball for phases, that’s our strength,” Du Preez said.
In the second half the Sharks managed to crash into the Rebels like a bull in a china shop, but without losing their accuracy.
“My message at half-time was that I thought we should be more assertive, especially in our decision-making. There was a lot of contact and the guys showed a lot of character. It was good to end well, after we had played really well in the first 20 minutes as well. But then our discipline let us down a bit, giving away stupid penalties, which breaks your momentum,” Du Preez said.
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